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BLACK LAGOON
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Animation - 9.2 |
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Sound - 8.6 |
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Story - 7.1 |
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Character - 8.4 |
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Value - 8.1 |
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Enjoyment - 8.7 |
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Average - 8.3 |
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This follows the story of a Japanese salary man and his introduction into a group of pirates. Barring a few introductory necessities, it is original, thought-provoking yet entertaining at all the same time.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Black Lagoon isn't anything special. That is the first phrase that pops in my head when I think of this anime. It does a lot of things well but everything is just "whatever". The characters feel recycled from just about every other anime, it follows a "case of the week" formula with occasional story arcs here and there, but there is really nothing intriguing about Black Lagoon at all. I was told that this was supposed to be the best action anime to date, but even that isn't anything special. None of its "issues" are special either; more like common sense, or lack thereof. It tries hard to be a Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, but it doesn't really end up being anything special, just ordinary.
First, the very unspecial characters. The main character Rock is your ordinary weak willed protagonist who doesn't really change much from episode 1 to episode 24. His observation for street fights gets better along the way, but that is basically it. Revy is your obligatory badass that had a rough life growing up since childhood. She's only different because she's supposed to be American but her english sucks, and she has a tattoo. Dutch isn't really special himself; your ordinary leader of a group that is different because he is African American, and Benny your obligatory intelligence and secretary who is different because he is Jewish. Well, there is one thing special about them, they all serve different roles under different races. Rock is a Japanese businessman, Revy is Chinese-American that speaks terrible english, Dutch is black and Benny is Jewish. Though it is only special on the surface; a bag full of characters with different races doesn't stop them from being just so damn ordinary.
Their job is just about as ordinary. They are tasked to do a wide variety of things that range from protecting cargo, to protecting people, or killing certain targets. In the midst of these events, Rock asks some very common sense questions about life and ponders about them. He sometimes gets in a conflict with Revy about it and they argue about these childish issues. You don't really learn anything nor do you see anything in a different perspective, a feat Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop were able to do without much effort. In fact there are times when you ask yourself "what was the point of that episode?" None of the supporting characters are really interesting. In fact, some of them are kind of annoying, and others just feel random as hell.
So in short to this very ordinary review, Black Lagoon is just as ordinary. Ordinary psychological issues, ordinary cast, ordinary action, stand still character development, and just nothing really special about it at all. So is there anything good about this anime at all? Of course, it does everything good, just not great. It really lacks a point to it. All issues seem to end in a parallel move that doesn't go anywhere. Your special time deserves something more than just this ordinary anime though, unless you have a thing for girls that can kick your ass and have tattoos on their neck, or little children that like to chop up their victims into mince meat and put up an innocent facade about it. There's a story arc for that. On that note, fanservice is another word that pops in my head about Black Lagoon. An ordinary anime with a lot of fanservice, that's a good way to sum it up.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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chris |
(2008-09-08 12:34:20) 2008-09-08 12:09:00 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Black Lagoon is a breath of fresh air for those seeking a good action oriented anime. Every part of the series was given first class treatment by the producers and it shows.
What this anime dose best is juxtapose over the top action with subtle character development of the two main characters. Its not the best anime you'll ever see but it is a Rock solid choice, excuse the pun, for anyone who likes intelligent action.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| I've always had my own personal philosophy when it comes to anything anime: “If it's anime, it can't be all bad.” So as much as I disliked Black Lagoon, it really wasn't such a bad show in itself as much as it just wasn't my cup of tea. However, it's also my opinion that this show does not live up to the hype and buzz it's been receiving in the media and all these comparisons to Cowboy Bebop, because Bebop was epic compared to this which really at the core is tantamount to only two words: Fan Service.
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1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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CyBeR |
2007-10-23 23:41:16 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Welcome to Roanapur, the most lawless and dark city on Earth, where a bag of cocaine or a box of bullets would buy your place in the world safe and easy…well mostly easy. There’s no such thing as safety in the den of the blackest wolves. There’s no way but to sell your soul to the devil and live the life of the city, of the outlaws, of the ones addicted on something darker and so much more powerful than any drug: money, adrenaline, living on the razor’s edge.
Welcome…to the den of wolves, to the Black Lagoon Company…to the world of villains.
Black Lagoon shines out on the action scene through so many reasons that I believe it would be quite difficult for me to list them all in a single review. Keep in mind please that I will not be reviewing Black Lagoon as two separate seasons, but as a whole, the series displaying more unity and quality than many other shows that would attempt something a lot more story driven (a.n: if I were to exemplify, I’d have to say about the more recent show, Claymore…but different story for a very different time).
To sum up everything you will be reading in this review (that is if you require a lot more than the guarantee of some stranger writing reviews on this site) I have to say that Black Lagoon is a perfect balance between a visual masterpiece, an insane slice of life and a character driven show, all brewed together to offer one of the very few outstanding action titles in the anime industry.
Ok, has all my credibility vanished yet after that so very typical fanboy commentary?
Yes? Good…
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5 of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Summoner |
(2007-08-20 02:54:33) 2007-08-20 02:50:54 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Note: This review is for both first and second seasons of the show.
"When I was a brat, and crawling around in the streets, for some reason God and love were always sold out."
If there is anything Black Lagoon can teach is that, no matter how much do you think your life sucks, it can still get worse. Otherwise this show is just a brainless action flick with tons of fanservice.
If you are up for watching trash talking women shooting the crap out of everything what moves and what doesn't, then give this show a shot. Don't expect anything special though, this show is "light watch" at best.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| My expectations going into Black Lagoon were, at best, hoping for a mediocre action flick; the premise being a hot chick with guns blowing things up. Not the best thing out there to watch, but hey, at 12 episodes it could be fun for a while, right?
Indeed, and with a few pleasant surprises to go along. At its heart, Black Lagoon has more than just blood and gunbattles, which is a definite plus. The first of these bonus extras (which thankfully goes especially well with the action) is astounding animation. The attention given to character detail is splendid and consistent, as there seems to be a large focus on facial expression and shading. This definitely goes hand in hand with the scenery, as not only are most of the environments beautiful but they coincide brilliantly with moods. For instance, when Revy tells Rock about her past, she's silhoutted against a setting sun which accentuates the painful look in her eyes. Top this off with incredibly smooth, fluid framerates and there's little to complain about. The attention to detail and surroundings in relation to moods really surprised me, ranging from the slow flicker of neon lights to the subtle highlights of sun peeking through a window with bent shades. Definitely one of the better productions out there; hopefully animation such as this will become standard in the near future.
To use a word that fits well with the series, the Seiyuu in Black Lagoon is bitchin'; probably its best trait. In many parts, especially the "conversations" between Rock and Revy, the voice actors do a splendid job at animating their characters' personas. The moments of flare and passion are captured brilliantly; when the characters get into emotionally heated situations you can really feel it. In addition, each personality is captured perfectly -- you can sense Revy's biting sarcasm, Dutch's calm stoicism, Rock's desperation. Though the soundtrack wasn't all that hot, it again fits the category of those that do their job passably so I'm not going to say much. Red Fraction is a nice opening theme that goes with the action-half of Black Lagoon, whereas the melancholic ending relates more to its dramatic half. Despite how nice the ending song is, however, it's streamlined into every episode even when the mood doesn't exactly coincide very well with it. Not one of those things that ruins the show, but it's a bit annoying none-the-less; way too noticable.
What most surprised me was the way Black Lagoon set up its storyline. The "core" of the storyline is character development, but instead of making it episodic, the creators designed a series of 4-5 linked mini-arcs. Background is provided to each of the jobs, though it's kept to a level where you understand the events but are not bored by useless information. Though most of the premises aren't too original and clearly are designed to make room for Revy shooting guns, they mix in a great deal of development between Rock and Revy without making the story seem awkward. Though in the first episode Rock seems like a wimp and Revy like a hot-headed badass with no brain, they quickly begin to develop much more three dimensional personalities as their lives and cultures begin to rub off on each other. This is a definite plus; the designers didn't try to throw in some ridiculous crap and call it a main plotline. The whole purpose of Black Lagoon is showcasing guns and characters, and they do a superb job at giving you both without any extra fluff.
As I'm sure I already hinted, Black Lagoon centers around Rock, a typical Japanese businessman whom happened to get unwillingly thrust into the underground world, and Revy, a woman grew up with the underground as her only home. Their crewmates are Dutch and Benny, and both foil the other two rather well. We've got somewhat of a polarity gap between the two worlds, where Rock, Benny, Dutch, and Revy (in that order) drift toward either side. With the addition of Rock onto the original crew of three, they begin to influence him and he them. As such, the Rock and Revy we see in episode 1 are vastly different from the Rock and Revy in episode 12, and watching their growth is quite satisfying.
All in all, Black Lagoon really surprised me. It's one hell of a good action anime and its twist on mini-arcs instead of episodic bore worked very well, not only for the violence but for the drama and character development as well. I'm not quite sure why the first 12 episodes are the last 12 are considered two separate seasons, though, as the end of episode twelve has a preview for 13. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the second season.
Recommended.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| it prety much is rather slow with a guy meating a group of bandits while hes on a mission from his job, on the way he meets the group and helps them out in a tight jam. after that he becomes part of the group. in a nut shell.
i work 60 hours a week washing semi trucks, tuff work trust me, and i go to school full time. i watched alot of this on my 80gig ipod video and ill more then likely cross my fingers for a seasion 3!. it was rather nice anime and the only low thing was the sound. and that i think was my headset.
this is a definate own for those who are hardcore anime freaks like myself, if your into it and not sure about the title TRY IT its really cool.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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De Baer |
(2007-04-14 17:33:47) 2007-04-14 17:29:50 |
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Anmerkung: Ich bewerte mit dieser Rezension sowohl die 1. als auch die 2. Staffel!
Bevor ich mir Black Lagoon anschaute hatte ich in diesen Anime schon im Voraus recht simple Erwartungen gesteckt. Was ich mir von Black Lagoon versprach war nichts anderes als sinnfreie Action mit viel Geballer, Explosionen und all dem ganzen Kram den man eben von einem Action-Anime erwarten kann. Ich fühlte mich schon bestätigt während die Opening-Sequenz lief und ich den weiblichen Hauptcharakter sah der mit diabolischem Gesichtsausdruck seine Pistolen sprechen lässt. Ich fühlte mich sofort an Serien wie „Burst Angel“ erinnert und wollte schon anfangen laut zu gähnen angesichts des wohl bald folgenden Klischeeauflaufs. Doch es sollte zum Glück ganz anders kommen, denn Black Lagoon bietet auf den zweiten Blick weit mehr als der erste Eindruck vermuten lässt. Zwar ist es definitiv Fakt das Black Lagoon von Seiten der Charaktere, der Handlung und des Settings nicht unbedingt den Innovationspreis gewinnt, und sich auf etliche altbekannte Geflogenheiten des Action-Genres stützt, die man nicht nur schon in diversen anderen Animes gesehen hat sondern zum Großteil auch in Realfilmen begutachten durfte, aber trotzdem hat es jede einzelne Episode geschafft mich in großem Maße zu unterhalten. Überraschenderweise zeigt sich dafür, wie man es eigentlich erwarten könnte, nicht in erster Linie die Action verantwortlich, vielmehr sind es die Dialoge die für mich der Spaßgarant waren. Das mag sich für einen Anime aus dem Action-Genre jetzt natürlich wie ein Armutszeugnis anhören, aber das ist es nicht. Die Action von Black Lagoon ist durchaus unterhaltsam und auch immer mit genau dem Knalleffekt versehen den man sich von dieser Art von Genre erhofft, aber gegen die unzähligen, unheimlich genialen Konversationen die neben etlichen absolut kultverdächtigen, mit köstlichem, schwarzen Humor angereicherten Sätzen und deftigen aber zum Ambiente der Serie passenden Kraftausdrücken, obendrein noch aus teilweise philosophischen Debatten und popkulturellen Referenzen bestehen, macht sie kaum einen Stich. Tatsache, so ein geniales Dialogskript wie bei Black Lagoon habe ich bisher in keinem anderen Anime entdecken können und sogar Cowboy Bebop erblasst hier im Vergleich. Bemerkenswert ist auch das viele der Konversationen zwischen den Charakteren die sich um Moral und Werte drehen und des Öfteren viele ungeliebte Wahrheiten über die Gesellschaft zu Tage fördern, die betreffenden Charaktere um einiges realer wirken lassen als es bei den herkömmlichen Ballerorgien-Animes der Fall ist und das selbst wenn diese Figuren in ihren Attitüden leicht übertrieben dargestellt wirken. Und ja, in dieser Hinsicht hat Black Lagoon tatsächlich auch Ansätze von Tiefgang auf der Habenseite, die sich zwar nicht unbedingt deutlich durchdrücken aber für einen reinen Action-Anime doch recht bemerkenswert sind. Black Lagoon weiß aber auch noch anderweitig aufzutrumpfen, vor allem mit einer Vielzahl von überaus unterhaltsamen Charakteren deren Persönlichkeiten breit gefächert und abwechslungsreich sind. Diese gewisse verruchte, harte und kalte Atmosphäre die von Black Lagoon ausgeht, hat in vielen Figuren und deren Verhalten ihren Ursprung, denn Barmherzigkeit und Skrupel werden hier weiß Gott nicht groß geschrieben. Im Bezug darauf ist Black Lagoon einfach übertrieben „In-Your-Face“ und scheut sich auch nicht davor hier und da, im Hinblick auf das kompromisslose überschreiten von Grenzen, auf der Rasierklinge zu tanzen. Ich mag den Gebrauch dieses Wortes nicht unbedingt aber dadurch ist Black Lagoon einfach nur unheimlich…“cool“ und wusste mich damit auch durchweg zu überzeugen, und das trotz der völligen Abstinenz eines festgelegten Handlungsverlaufs. Black Lagoon ist so eine Serie die dem Zuschauer kontinuierlich ins Gesicht boxt, ohne ab und zu die Magengrube zu vergessen, es dabei aber nicht vergisst mit einem witzigen oder nachdenklich stimmenden Dialog für Unterhaltung und Aufmerksamkeit zu sorgen. Insgesamt ein wirklich toller Anime, der zwar an der Oberfläche einige Klischees beinhaltet, sich aber dank knallharter Action, eines kreativen Dialogskripts und seiner kompromisslosen Natur völlig verdient zur Creme de la Creme der Action-Animes zählen darf!
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| All in all this anime was simply magnificent, and im glad to see that i am not the only one that thinks so. this show is a politically driven existential action drama.
Dont u just love it when an anime breaks into ur top 10 list?? reminds me why i love this medium in the first place. The best thing about the show are the monologues and dialogues the different characters have regarding their actions and convictions.
I swear, this anime is more poetic that it is action... So many great moments of social commentary, as a black man i love seeing social commentary in anime... its always interesting to see how the japanese view other folk. The conversation between the Nazi and Dutch over the phone in episode 6 is just phenomenal. and how the nazi when given a gun still choses to shot Dutch because he's black is just priceless. I also love how Hiroe Rei interweves other issues such as racism, revolution in Cuba, the fall of the soviet union, the war remnants of the middle east, and the tragedy of romanian orphans in the 80's. Simply magnificent.
The sad thing is that some ignorant folk will dismiss this anime as just being action, or no story, or all style without substance... meanwhile the mangaka is not trying to tell a whole story, he is simply using pirates' experiences to give insight on contemporary issues that plage developed countries and 3rd world countries alike and how these issues can break people mentally and emotionally.
Revy a chinese girl from the U.S. who was definitely a gangbanger at too young an age, Dutch a Vietnam vet who can never be the same after seeing such horrors in that jungle. Benny a kid who grew up in the suburbs and messed up with the wrong kind of folk. Balalaika a war heroine who has given up her humanity for power, and Rock a regular guy lost to the world and himself.
The residents of Roanapur are an embodiment of what happens in a society were all our fears and inhibitions counteract. And Rock the hero of our story is the one man in the twilight that can testify on the evil and good of man in a screwed up world.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| im giving it a high score since i enjoyed the anime overall xD. still waiting for people to make me a shenhua wallpaper. oh yeah. shenhua made this anime even better. hope she appears in more episodes...
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Pirates, cartels, crime, etc. pure fun and violence. BL is not a walk in the park and is for a decidedly mature audience, plenty of blood, gore and nudity to go around. But hey when its set in the city of the world's worst criminals.
This first season of BL is basically broken in to four story arcs each running for three episodes. The character development and setting are developed in each of these. It works out well, the stories are neither too long nor too short and they contain plenty of action with some breaks for dialog.
I have only watched this subbed so I cannot comment on the quality of any dubs that are available.
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dsync |
2006-11-25 02:21:03 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| The first few episodes of this series really dont do it justice. As many other reviewers have pointed out the impression you might get from the first couple of episodes is that its just a violent gun toting girl anime. The whole point however is simple character development, as if you watch further into the series you will start to become aware of the drama which actually sets this series apart. While some aspects of various side characters are fairly rediculous the series starts to become more about what happens between the action sequences rather then leads into the action sequences. Parts of the series are definately cruel and brutal, but thats the way the world really is. 70% of the world gets by on 5$ a day or less, children are bought and sold into sadistic slavery everyday and for some people life holds no value. Its nice to have a series which includes superhuman like abilities but doesnt hide behind those with abilities providing happy endings.
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nauXolo |
(2009-01-08 06:55:31) 2006-10-10 15:03:10 |
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| Average |
4.2 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
4 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| Sometime after the second season was released, I decided to give the first season another shot. I had forgotten most of what happened, and decided to pick up where I last gave up. After finishing Season 1, I must say this was quite excruciating to watch.
I'll quickly summarize the 3 main flaws 1) horrible voice acting, especially with the main character Revy 2) Unchanging characters + very uninteresting male protagonist 3) No real story.
When I first turned this on, I was impressed. The opening had a really catchy song. Never mind that the animation was just some series of shots, it was catchy and it matched well. So, I thought to myself... Oh, maybe this wasn't that bad. WRONG... the moment Revy opened her mouth, I knew something was off. With such a central dynamic character as Revy, I was very disappointed by the fake bad-ass voice acting by this seiyuu. None of what the anime tried to portray really came through, and this is one of the few animes that ever had this issue. Once Revy's voice was off, enjoyment really took a dive.
Nevertheless, I persisted... after all, I wanted to see what the second season had. But it was very difficult considering how there was no real central plot. Instead, we just follow these bunches of pirates who do pick-up jobs, and end up getting caught in the Russian mafia and other mobs' business. Sound potentially interesting, but being surrounded by more gripping media and movies related to similar topics, I found these mafia renditions a little... shallow. It didn't really feel like they had such any great influence over anything.
Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. The off-beat voice acting, plus the shallow story, and baseless reasoning behind Rock's actions made me give up. Black Lagoon is probably the most disappointing anime that I wanted to enjoy. While it is supposed to be an action anime... really nothing can say action better than real live movies. Sorry to say, but short of over dramaticized anime kung-fu action scenes, I have never been impressed with anime action, and Black Lagoon merely strengthens my argument.
====================
My old review that was deleted, but still had valid points:
Episode 6 is probably the ONLY episode worth watching out of this because of the amount of body count. Otherwise, acting, story and practically everything is extremely uninteresting to watch. The try to put some witty comments, technical information, and smart jokes here and there but for some reason they come off as just trying too hard. Also, they seem to try too hard to be crude and cruel with all the curse words and inappropriate icons (porn, beer etc) placed everywhere, but the general feel isn't very consistent with these themes.
For those who have watched Bakuretsu Tenshi, Black Lagoon gives the same feeling... they both have a kind of grumpy main female character that has a major attitude problem as well as an addiction to guns and killing and such. They both take various random odd jobs and end up getting caught up in various larger grand schemes. They should have just taken out Okajima as he is pretty useless and just make this a full blown action from start to finish with explosions and nice gunfights everywhere. I don't see the point of having this 'business-man' turned rogue character at all.
In the end, I just didn't feel the rogue nature of this Black Lagoon crew. It felt like a mockery of this type of mafia/pirate world and at the same time they try to portray all the problems realistically with all the crude language and behavior, yet they don't take it seriously at the same time. Black Lagoon's main fault is that it just doesn't keep a consistent feel throughout.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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isokana |
(2006-09-26 13:32:20) 2006-09-26 13:23:17 |
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| At the moment Animenfo lists Black Lagoon's genre as drama.
...
O_O
It's not drama. It's action. Hard-core action. And it kicks ass like nothing before.
Serious is an adjective I'd never associate with Black Lagoon. Plot introduces elements like nazis, gun wielding nuns or killer maids. The action goes over the top in every episode. People talk with incredible intensivity. And this is exactly why Black Lagoon is so good. You don't have to worry about a thing when you watch it. You're either waiting for an imminent action scene or you're experiencing it already. If look for enticing and complicated plot or deep and meaningful character development, don't look this way. This isn't your series.
Anyway, what are the characters if not deep and meaningful? They are fun and full of attitude. The main star of the show is Revy, a two-gun and very short shorts wielding killing machine. That actually sums up her appeal: she's damn sexy and shoots like a god. With her grin and lovely voice, she's more than enough to spin my socks. She's teamed up with Dutch, a father figure, whose deep voice fills everyone with trust. And he blows up stuff in between too. Third in the group is Benny, a technical wizard who sadly is quite lame compared to the previous two. The story starts when a Japanese salaryman Rock joins their mercenary team after some complex, job related issues. His the one bringing in the layman commentary on the way they handle daily business. There was a risk that the show could degenerate to some moral lecturing on his account but he actually works quite well as a part of the group. Of course his perspective is different from veteran mercenaries but he's flexible enough to listen to others. The best dynamics are between Revy and Rock as they get a fair dose of quality time together and discuss many interesting things (especially in episode 7, wow, you'd need a motorsaw to cut that atmosphere). There are a bunch of side-characters too, who, again, may not be deepest characters possible but are loaded with personality and attitude. How these varied personalities clash and go up in clouds of gunpowder smoke are the key points of the series. And of course, there are plenty of fun moments with Rock conflicting with Revy.
Story-wise Black Lagoon consists of small arcs of few episodes. There's some background story with Revi's past but it's left with very little attention. This is good because the series is fast paced and explosive. A longer plot with complicated structure would only disturb the watching experience of pure action. Most of the series is fighting coupled with some conversations that discuss the world and people's motives. These things are quickly forgotten in the series but impressed me enough, mostly because how intensivily the voice actors do their job. I could really feel the weight of their words.
The animation is very good. 3D animation mixes well with traditional animation. The fights are impressive and fluid. While the sounds of explosions fills your ears and sea of flames is capturing your vision, it's very hard not to enjoy the show. As I mentioned the voice actors do a terrific job and the character designs are distinct enough for the strong personalities. The opening sequence gets bonus points for capturing the spirit of the series. It has enough attitude to justify the terrible English used. The ending tries to be more serious and I felt it didn't really fit the series. Mostly skipped it.
Black Lagoon is a surefire source of entertaiment. It reeks of the creators knowing exactly what the strong points of the series are then exploiting them to the maximum. And to summarize: that's action.
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| Average |
4.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
1 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
2 |
| This anime is meant as an action entertainment type, but falls short due to laughably unrealistic situations, shallowness, and lack of character depth.
=Animation=
The animation is solid. It's exactly what you'd expect from an anime right now. Nothing groundbreaking or unique, but solid.
=Sound=
Probably the anime's best feature. Opening song is great. Experienced voice actors, although no one in particular is memorable. Gunshots really don't take too much effort, which is about 1/3 of the sound in a given episode.
=Story=
Here's where it all falls apart. At first it seems like Bebop on a boat. Each episode is a different mission. Different in the sense that the guys they are killing now have different names. Sometimes they even look the same.
They certainly all fight the same. Here is a quick summary of every episode: Get a mission, scope it out and find 10-50 bad guys, send in Revy to kill the bad guys and collect the money. This is absolutely not an exaggeration, watch if you don't believe me.
The choreography is the biggest disappointment. It consists of large groups of military types, frequently in excess of 10, surrounding Revy and firing on her with automatic weapons. At almost point blank range they are amazingly inept, firing millions of rounds and hitting nothing. Revy, instead of taking cover (like any logical person) usually poses for the camera (and the fanservice types) and begins to annihilate the well-armed but impotent mob.
This is it folks. If you're looking for a good action anime you'll find only T&A action fanservice special here.
=Character=
The characters aren't much better than the plot. Most are blatantly ripped off from other anime. Dutch is a hard-nosed, pragmatic vet who has seen it all. With his gigantic build and gruff voice he's a not-so-subtle copy of Bebop's Jet Black.
Revy is the badass muscle type who can shoot her way out of seemingly impossible situations while looking cool. Spike Spiegel from Bebop.
They needed a tech guy and settled on Benny. A geek, but cool and jaded. This is pretty typical.
And Rock, a Japanese weary of his assigned role in a society which lacks the flavor of life. A mercenary lifestyle is a remedy.
And then the bad guys. They are usually vilified and one-dimensional. Arab terrorists, Nazis, South American cartels, Chinese triads, and common street toughs. Nothing interesting here, just meat bags to fill full of lead.
There are a few interesting and comic characters, but are so minor they aren't worth mentioning.
=Value=
You may decide to re-watch this if you enjoy watching a half-naked girl fire a gun repeatedly. You will probably not even remember the names of the main characters a year from now.
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1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Gabe |
(2006-09-14 06:24:44) 2006-09-14 06:22:12 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I just recently finished this series (a few minutes ago) and I was very impressed with the whole series. There was an almost perfect balance between aspects of an anime series (while still keeping in mind that this is an action series). Lots of impressive action, occasional dramatic/quiet bits as well as feel good times, for me it was a perfect getaway from the other stuff I was watching (I think I was watching Kagihime before..so ...I liked it in the end though..) If you loved Cowboy Bebop, this is a ABSOLUTE MUST.
Animation was really great, but not something hugely special about it. Every character had their own unique look, mostly because the character design overall was superb. Identical clothes every episode has always been a small letdown, although it's almost excusable in this series.
The OP of this series sounds pretty cool, I am liking it (Red Fraction - Mell). The ED is some wierd stuff though..kind of a letdown. Voice acting..what can I say, wasn't annoying so it was good..
There isn't one main plot/storyline in this series, but the whole series of events overall made this a good series, as it did lead up to better understanding of characters and such etc etc. Some bits of the story do seem to be a touch out of normality, but hell, its good. It also develops a whole new world really well, which is an added bonus. (unless your into this kinda stuff ~_~)
The characters were the big win of this series. Every single character had a unique persona, and the protagonists were very thoroughly introduced, yet a feeling of mystery still lingers about them, which makes this series all the better. The personas in the series worked amazingly well together, and each you can pretty much get to know all the characters, or even relate to them.
Valued..
I personally enjoyed this series immensely. Not once did I find myself bored throughout this series, which is a good thing of course. Recommend it to all action lovers, as well as anyone else. And if you liked Cowboy Bebop, this is a MUST.
*Can't wait till second season. Really.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This anime is about girl and guns. And add some espionage, and some gungrave background you have this. It works quite well though not the best as there is room for improvement.
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denisuki~ |
(2006-08-31 16:03:28) 2006-08-31 15:59:53 |
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| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Since I didn't find any objective review on Black Lagoon that could cover my opinion about this anime and all consider it godly, which is straightly unfair, I decided to write my own review trying to put things in place.
To begin with, Black Lagoon is not, by any means, a bad anime. But it's not *very* good either. Let's see why.
Black Lagoon's genre is WAR and ACTION. Nothing more. Not any romance, comedy or anything else in it. Just plain action series.
The story is about 'pirates' that get assignments from various countries' mafia, and generally do whatever dirty job available to get, what else, money.
The 'pirates' are a bunch of four people. A usual mixup of a girl that kicks ass with dual pistols named Revy and has a very very bad character, due to harassment in her childhood, a computer freak named Benny, the kickass 'captain' Dutchie, and a strange guy they picked up nicknamed Rock and he's the kind of guy that gets touched by each and every of the victims' bios. Well that's not very original but their personalities in the anime are very cool in their own way and I find it the strongest part of Black Lagoon. Their relationship is kinda interesting.
The music is good as well. And not just the OP and ED, mostly the OST of the action scenes, imo. The visuals are good enough, and so is the animation. The design feels kinda rushed here and there but overall it's good enough.
A fun anime if you don't have anything better to watch, it can be entertaining enough.
Conlcuding I'd like to say that I think it has some potential to become better in the second season, I really look forward to it.
>>I recommend it if you like gunz 'n' shit. If you want a sentimentally complicated world, don't look this way.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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go_raiden |
(2006-08-21 01:29:11) 2006-08-21 01:18:16 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Revy is a gun toting, foul mouthed, tattoed, and borderline psychotic mercenary. Her nickname is "Two-Hands" because of the dual revolvers she packs. She is the Designated Killer of the group. If you need a roomful of bad guys killed fast or something blown up this is the woman for you.
Dutch is the brains of the operation. A smooth operator who knows how to work his connections and always keeps his cool even when things go wrong around him and they often do.
Benny handles the logistics, communications, and intel. He doesn't like to mix it up when the bullets start flying and he plays more of a background role.
Rock looks like your typical white collar office guy. But he's not. After his own company forsook him, he decided to join the mercenary group known as Black Lagoon. Because of his mild manners and appearance he often operates as the front for the operation. Although he doesn't seem to have any fighting skills he often finds himself in the line of fire.
Rock is often paired up with Revy. I'm not sure if this is because Dutch has a sadistic streak or if he thinks Rock is a calming influence on her. Either way it is an unlikely couple.
Put these characters all together, mix in a lot of action, intrigue, and the russian mafia and you've got an explosive combination.
The star attraction is the intense well animated action. There's rarely an episode where there's not a lot of lead flying and the characters are risking their lives.
Besides the action sequences though there is an interesting interactive dynamic between the explosive Revy and the mild mannered Rock.
Several of the episodes in this series deal with how these two get "used to" each other. And it is anything but smooth. But the fact that Revy could go "off the deep end" at any minute adds a lot of tension to the interactions.
The relationship between these two evolves though and it is an interesting thing to keep track of.
Can't wait for the second series to see if they will develop the characters and relationships further. We still don't know much about Dutch except he seems to have a checkered past.
And we know Revy is messed up in the head... but the series doesn't go into great detail on how it all happened yet. Although there are some flashbacks.
Anyways watch this show if you want to see some great action scenes. It is all very well done and makes you feel like you're in a honk kong movie.
The lowest mark I gave was for the story. As it stands now the story seems incomplete so I hope season 2 develops things more fully but I like what I've seen so far... a lot.
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